A team that left its mark upon the Avengers with it’s successful invasion of the original Avengers Mansion which resulted in the torture of Avengers Mansion caretaker Edwin Jarvis, the savage near death beating of Olympian demi-god Hercules and the destruction of the Avengers Mansion itself. But Zemo’s boldest and most daring plan involving the Masters of Evil was yet to come.
The movie’s plot of course is this: After the seeming deaths of the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the majority of the active roster of the Avengers, the world is left without its major league heroes to defend it and keep the peace. The remaining super hero population steps up their efforts in defending the public from super human threats and new super hero teams begin to form as well. One group in particular catches the attention of the public and the press with their actions, a group calling themselves the Thunderbolts. Lead by the patriotic themed hero Citizen V the team consisted of members Meteorite, Techno, Mach -1, Songbird and Atlas and quickly gained acceptance and acknowledgement as possible replacement for both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. But these heroes were not what they portrayed themselves to be. They were in fact Baron Helmut Zemo and a few loyal and steadfast members of the Masters of Evil: Moonstone, the Fixer, the Beetle, Screaming Mimi and Goliath. Their objective as planned by Zemo: As the Thunderbolts they would build their reputation and status as heroes in order to gain the security level privileges accorded to the Avengers as well as gain access to some, if not all of the sophisticated technology created by Reed Richards, all in an effort to download a virus program created by the Fixer that would give them control of all the world’s military computer systems. Although circumstances arise during the hero masquerade that allow the plan that Zemo had devised to become far more successful than he could have foreseen, it is not without a few unforeseen roadblocks along the way: the addition of a true young would be heroine into their ranks, the fact that some of the “Thunderbolts” were beginning to enjoy the benefits that came with living the life of a hero over the benefits gained through criminal means, and the return from the dead of the Avengers themselves. Here’s my cast and movie take for this story.
The Thunderbolts/Masters of Evil.
Thomas Kretschmann = Baron Helmut Zemo/Citizen V. He’s a solid actor and can pull off the air of both nobility and menace needed for the character.
Tabrett Bethell = Dr. Karla Sofen/Moonstone/Meteorite. Her character on the Legend of the Seeker series comes off as cold and hard to read at times, similar to Karla Sofen.
Jeremy Davies = P. Norbert Ebersol/the Fixer/Techno. Another solid actor and his turn as Daniel on Lost gives him cred as someone who can pull of a character that would be talking up a lot of science and tech speak.
Til Schweiger = Erik Josten/Atlas/Goliath. A big beefy guy who has the acting ability needed to play both good guy and bad guy as needed. Especially when it comes to this character later on in the movie.
Paul Blackthorne = Abner Jenkins/Mach-1/the Beetle. A strong actor with the ability to be both intense and down to earth for this character.
Leven Rambin = Melissa Gold/Songbird/Screaming Mimi. Same as with Blackthorne, she has the ability to play a character that is intense yet comes off as sweet and down to earth.
Brenda Song = Hallie Takahama /Jolt. Yeah going with the “goody- goody fluff” actress for this role exactly to play contrast to the rest of the “evil” Thunderbolts.
Alicia Witt = Dallas Riordan. She’s another strong and solid actress and would work just perfectly for a possible sequel where her character would become the new Citizen V after Zemo has stopped using the identity.
The Avengers. I’m casting the Avengers as if they have been around for several years (which they have) instead of the first time on screen. Please keep this in mind those of you who will chose to post up your favorite twenty something actor or actress whom you think should be this Avenger or that Avenger over what I have chosen here.
Sticking with current actor in the role, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Also sticking with actually cast but not yet seen in the role, actor Chris Hemsworth as Thor.
An Unknown as Steve Rogers/Captain America. Until the Captain America movie is released and he can prove otherwise, I’m not feeling Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. I think he is a decent enough actor but he doesn’t have the old school rugged handsome vibe like someone actually from back in the 30’s and 40’s era should have. He looks too much like a typical present day Hollywood pretty boy. On this casting I’m going the same route that I did with my Black Panther casting back in my Fantastic Four posting. Not casting the actor that’s pictured but rather a solid unknown actor with a similar physical appearance. Actor George Stults who is pictured has the right look of how I picture Steve Rogers in my head but unfortunately his acting skills don’t match his looks to pull off Captain America.
Aaron Eckhart = Hank Pym/Giant-Man. Giant Man at least for this outing. Long before either of the Nolan Batman films were even in the planning, Aaron Eckhart has been the number one casting choice on my list for a possible Hank Pym, and so I’m staying true to that.
Alyssa Milano = Jan Van Dyne/the Wasp. Going for the “Fashionista” vibe for Jan Van Dyne. Plus she has a little edge to her to make it believable that Jan was once leader of the Avengers. And she’s short in stature. I’m not feeling the idea of a tall Wasp.
Josh Holloway = Clint Barton/Hawkeye. That’s Right. Not Gambit. Hawkeye. Get rid of the five o’clock shadow as well as the surfer’s mullet, lighten his hair color up a bit then add his turn as James “Sawyer” Ford from Lost and we have our favorite loveable Avengers knucklehead Clint Barton. Also think sequel where he’s now the leader of the Thunderbolts.
Alicia Minshew = Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. Going with an unknown actress for this part. She’s a soap actress and the character that she plays comes across with the right combination of vulnerability and strength similar to Wanda.
Christopher Heyerdahl = the Vision. He’s pretty good at playing various stoic or minimally emotional characters and making them all seem different. Plus add his overall appearance and height to the equation to help bring the Vision to life.